Some COVID-19 cases in kids may be mistaken for skin diseases, pediatricians warn

Pediatricians are warning that some COVID-19 cases in children may be going untreated or misdiagnosed as other viruses, such hand, foot and mouth disease, amid a rising number of positive patients whose only symptom is a skin rash.

Toronto pediatric emergency physician Dr. Dina Kulik told CTV News Channel on Tuesday she and her colleagues are seeing "a lot more" children and their adult caregivers presenting with what doctors assume is hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) because they are not showing any of the common symptoms of COVID-19.

However, changes in the skin and certain rashes have also been identified as symptoms of COVID-19 infection during the course of the pandemic.

Kulik said this is concerning because the misdiagnosis could lead to increased COVID-19 outbreaks in certain communities.

"My concern is that we're saying to these families, 'This is hand, foot and mouth, it's a different virus, there's no need to isolate for five days from your peers,' we're sending them maybe back into the world earlier than we should, and if it is a manifestation of COVID in fact… I worry that that could be spreading more of this illness," Kulik said.